Afghanistan condemns US opposition to ceasefire in Gaza

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has condemned the United States’ opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza and said the country used human rights as a political tool.

The US yesterday blocked an extraordinary UN bid to call for a ceasefire in Gaza while Israeli forces continued a relentless offensive.

The fighting has left 17,487 people dead in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children, according to the latest count from the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas over its unprecedented attack on October 7 when militants broke through Gaza’s militarised border to kill around 1,200 people and seize hostages, 138 of whom remain captive, according to Israeli figures.

The US opposed a ceasefire in Gaza, but asked Israel to pay attention to the safety of civilians.

MoFA spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote on its X handle that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) condemns US’s opposition to ceasefire in Gaza

Balkhi said that US move showed it was equally responsible for the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

He added: “This shows once again that the US government uses international bodies for its own political purposes. The country should have condemned the perpetrators of war crimes in Palestine and should have added them to the sanctions list. Sanctions are imposed on several people, which show that America is using human rights as a political tool”.

“The IEA stands behind countries who have adopted a principled stand against the ongoing war crimes of the Zionists and demands a permanent ceasefire and supports a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue,” Balkhi said.

He said the entire humanity has been hijacked for political purposes. “It shows the unjust nature of the current world order, it destroys the remaining weakness of human rights structures and shows the need for a just world order”.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, more than 171,000 Palestinians have lost their lives so far in attacks by Israeli forces. Reports say 1,500 Israeli people have also been killed.

kk/ma

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